Bears will open '08 season at Colts' new stadium

PALM BEACH, Fla. — The Bears will begin the 2008 season the way they ended the 2006 season -- on a national stage against the Indianapolis Colts.

Except this time, they won't be playing in the Super Bowl.

The NFL announced Monday that the Bears and Colts will be playing in a nationally televised Sunday night game that will be the first regular-season game to be played at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

"The Super Bowl was a long time ago," Bears coach Lovie Smith said at the NFL meetings at the Breakers Hotel. "It's the Chicago Bears versus the Indianapolis Colts. We assume they're going to be a really good football team and I hope we can get back to where we belong."

Defeating the Colts in a crazed atmosphere on Sept. 7 will be a tall order for the Bears if they play like the Bears of last season. Smith sees it this way: "We'll get a chance to see exactly what type of football team we have right away."

From that standpoint, Smith says he is excited to be presented with this opportunity.

"Any time you have a chance to play in front of a national audience, you're excited," he said. "We have a history with the Colts, I have a history with the Colts. And it's the opening of their new stadium. But the opening game of a new season in itself is enough to get excited about. You can prepare all off-season knowing you're going against them ... [that] adds a little more to it."

The personal history Smith referred to is with Colts coach Tony Dungy. Smith was an assistant for the Bucs when Dungy was their head coach.

Smith also is serving with Dungy on the coaches subcommittee of the NFL's competition committee this year. Being invited to serve on the subcommittee is a prestigious assignment. Eagles coach Andy Reid and Jaguars coach Jack Del Rio are the others on the subcommittee.

"As coaches, we all have ideas," Smith said. "It's good to see how the inner workings go."

Smith is advocating that the NFL adopt a proposal to allow headset communication between the sideline and a defensive player. Indications are the rule will be adopted.

"To me, it's an easy decision," Smith said. "You have one side of the football that can communicate between a coach and player -- why not do it on both sides?"

Smith also is in favor of a proposal that would rewrite the force-out rule so that the only time a catch out of bounds would be allowed is when a player is actually held and carried out of bounds.

The league also announced it awarded 32 compensatory picks for the April draft, including three seventh-round picks to the Bears. The Bears now have 11 draft picks.

Compensatory picks are given to teams that lose more unrestricted free agents or better free agents than it signed the previous year. Last year the Bears lost Alfonso Boone, Ian Scott, Todd Johnson and Justin Gage, while signing only Anthony Adams.

In other news, Commissioner Roger Goodell announced the sale of 50 percent of the Dolphins to New York real estate tycoon Steve Ross has been approved unanimously. Ross will pay approximately $550 million for half of the team.

Wayne Huizenga will remain the managing partner of the team until he wants to cede control to Ross. When that will occur is up to Huizenga, but Ross has options to eventually purchase up to 95 percent of the Dolphins.